c. Yamaha
From most reviews, they're one of the few companies that has reliable HDMI. I own one, older, Yamaha receiver. If works great and sounds good.
If it is a question about a stand alone processor, and based on sound, the Emotiva XMC-1 is my choice, due to Dirac room correction and how beautifully it handles analog and digital equally.
I'm open minded and would be happy to give the Marantz a chance! It would likely displace the Yamaha, but not sure it could displace the XMC-1, unless I'm enamored by the additional feature set and the sound quality is at least equals the Emotiva.